Nutritionists Waldorf MD

If bananas are 30 times sweeter than they used to be (I have seen no evidence of this) our ancestors would have had to eat 900 of them per day to supply the same calories, a daunting challenge when we consider that our ancestors were undoubtedly much more active than we, hence they had much greater caloric needs.

Ask the Nutritionists

Question: Are modern fruits too sweet? It has been said that modern fruit has 30 times the sugar level of its wild ancestors. Supposedly, this is because fruit is hybridized for sugar content.

Dr. Douglas Graham's reply: We eat according to our caloric needs; if the food has more calories we simply need to eat less of it. Thirty bananas a day supplies about 2400 calories, enough for the average American. If bananas are 30 times sweeter than they used to be (I have seen no evidence of this) our ancestors would have had to eat 900 of them per day to supply the same calories, a daunting challenge when we consider that our ancestors were undoubtedly much more active than we, hence they had much greater caloric needs. They also didn't farm; foraging for this much food would have been, in my opinion, an impossibility. Granted certain fruits have been hybridized to become sweeter, making them more palatable, but many others remain essentially unchanged.

Question: I am new to raw food eating and fruit gives me gas and sometimes diarrhea, and makes me feel tired and spacey. Why is this?

David Klein’s reply: Fruit can only digest under favorable conditions: 1. the alimentary canal must be clean (it helps to clean out with several glasses of water before breakfast; 2. fruit must be eaten alone or only with neutral green vegetables (such as lettuce and celery).

The “best way” to eat is a matter of following one’s senses and choosing what smells and tastes most delicious and feels most satisfying. That’s how the process of nutrition starts. Superior nutrition is almost that simple, but not quite. Obtaining high-quality food is a learned art.

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